Durban - King Goodwill Zwelithini is not pleased with plans to have the Ingonyama Trust Land Act repealed and has vowed to fight for the 2.8 million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal that is under his custodianship as the sole trustee. We look at five things that the King has previously said about the Ingonyama Trust.
Asks Zulu nation to donate R5 each for legal battle if Ingonyama Trust is scrapped
In February 2018, King Zwelithini appealed to “any legitimate Zulu” to donate R5 or more for a legal battle against Parliament if it opted to repeal the Ingonyama Trust Act.
“I want only R5, but those who can afford to can donate more. I want to show those who are in power that the government cannot do things without consulting us,” the King said.
Unhappiness with Kgalema Motlanthe’s high-level panel report
The King and traditional leaders in the province opposed the recommendations made by former president Motlanthe, chairperson of the High level panel, that land under the Ingonyama Trust be surrendered to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.
In July 2018, during an Imbizo that the King had called, he said: “Our kingdom is here to stay and your land is going nowhere as long as I'm alive."
Partnership with AfriForum
In October 2018, at the Umkhosi we Lembe commemoration of King Shaka Zulu announced that he was partnering with Afrikaner lobby group Afriforum who were also opposed to expropriation of land without compensation.
The King said that it was unfair that certain white farmers had previously been compensated for their farms but now there was no longer compensation.
“This means we are not building unity (between whites and blacks). This means current leaders are no longer talking about Madiba’s rainbow nation.”
"I sent you in July and said go and pray that all those who are against you and me over the land, God must make them to fight by themselves. Even now, I'm sending you to go and pray before the elections next year. Anyone who wants to be voted for and elected by us, I'm going to talk now, anyone who wants to be elected by us must come and kneel here and commit that I will never touch your land," King Zwelithini said.
Requests commitment from President Cyril Ramaphosa to leave ITB land alone
“He (Ramaphosa) must come here and say it, write it down in an agreement and sign off that the land of the Zulus will not be touched. As the Zulu leader, I am trying to ensure that your things are protected and go well," King Zwelithini said in October 2018.
Adamant to fight to protect Ingonyama Trust land
At the weekend King Zwelithini said that he had not been consulted about the government’s Presidential advisory panel on land reform’s recommendation that the Ingonyama Trust, which spans close to 3 million hectares and of which he is the sole trustee, be scrapped.
Speaking in Nongoma at the weekend during Umkhosi Wesivivane, King Zwelithini said: “I’ve instructed that this matter be thoroughly looked at. I want you to know that this land belongs to the reigning King of AmaZulu, previous kings and queens and will not be taken from us.”